controlling anxiety Archives : Tranquil Trekker

4 Tips for Digital Mindfulness at Work

In this post, I outline some steps we can all take to be more mindful regarding the use of work laptops, phones, and messaging programs when we’re supposed to be enjoying some “downtime”.

I started a new (more normal) job a few years ago after COVID pretty much killed my freelance career. 😝 I still work from home a lot but I also visit with clients out in the community. Because of this, I now have two laptops and two phones (one each for work and personal use). As you may imagine, this does not lend itself to tranquility, peace, or a dearth of technology in my life.

I’ve felt like the old grandma at work, trying to figure out her grandkids new-fangled technology. 😝 I actually did this same job 10 years ago but back then all I had was a Word document, a flip phone, and a laptop. (It took real effort to locate a WiFi signal anywhere away from the office back then, and there were no hotspots on my flip phones!) Today, almost everything is web-based. While this makes things far more convenient (and saves trees, a definite plus!) it also means there are countless more assessments and paperwork items that are screaming for my attention at all times.

All of this runs completely counter to the mindfulness principles so many of us work so hard to maintain in our lives. We want to be Present in the current moment…we strive to focus our mental energy on one task at a time…and then we’re slammed by multiple devices pinging and dinging with alerts like “you’ve got mail!”, “someone’s calling!”, or “your next meeting starts in 15 minutes!” It’s EXHAUSTING!

So, how do we use these devices as tools to help make our work-life run efficiently, so we can focus our mental and physical energy on what is most important, thereby leaving LOTS of time to live life? Read on for the Tranquil Trekker’s tips for digital mindfulness at work!

Author’s Note: My intent with this post is NOT to complain about my new job. Having a work phone and laptop actually makes a lot of sense with the work I do. My home IS my office. Also, since my job is fairly mobile, it only makes sense that my work is mobile too. I also VERY MUCH appreciate that my company has provided me with work devices as I DON’T want to have to use my own. 😝

And bottom line, SO MANY people are in this same boat. Having multiple devices is really just becoming the new normal (especially with the popularity of flexible work options and the rise in work-from-home due to COVID.) My goal with this post is to encourage people to view these devices as necessary evils and to help them figure out how to use them as beneficial tools without allowing them to take over our lives.

Compartmentalize your Work Devices

Compartmentalize with your work laptop, phone, and any messaging apps if at all possible. You can accomplish this by only having these work-related programs on your work devices. Also, be sure to turn these off at the end of every day and on your days off if possible (I realize this isn’t always an option if you are on-call).

If you feel this isn’t an option in your case, my question would be, are you actually on-call? If not, is there truly an expectation that you respond to calls, emails, or messages during off-hours? To put it bluntly, are you actually jeopardizing your job (or future promotional opportunities) if you don’t respond promptly? Or, is this a self-imposed prison? Is it not actually necessary for you to be available at all times but do you feel like you should be?

Many people have their work email come to their personal phone (even though oftentimes this is voluntary, and is NOT required by their job). I think they’re nuts, personally 😉, but I also can’t help but feel a bit sad for them. They need (and deserve) a break and I just don’t see how this practice achieves that for them.

So my advice is to talk to your boss. Get a clear understanding of what the expectations really are. If the presumption is that you be readily available during off-hours, then you’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s the work environment you want. Just know that studies show you’ll be a better employee if you have true downtime. (Don’t take my word for it, you can read about some of them below! 😉) And if you’re the boss, check out the links and please, don’t be an a-hole! 😇)

Harvard Business Review–The Upside of Downtime
Forbes–Downtime is Important!

Multitasking Makes you Less Productive

In addition to compartmentalizing your work devices, the studies linked below also show that contrary to popular office belief, multitasking DOES NOT work, and it actually DAMAGES your productivity! 😮

Forbes: Multitasking is Bad for You!
Cleveland Clinic: Multitasking Doesn’t Work
Forbes: Multitasking Hurts Productivity

Multitasking is almost NEVER a mindful practice, as mindfulness requires you to put your full mental energy and focus into ONE task at a time. As an example, think about taking a work call while driving (we’re going to assume you’re using hand’s-free devices.) If you’re paying attention to driving (which you should be) you CAN’T be putting all your mental energy and concentration toward the phone call you’re having. And if you’re aren’t focusing on the phone call whatever/whomever you’re trying to serve with that call won’t be getting your best effort. Also, you can’t take notes while driving, or look things up on your computer or phone as you may need to. (I would also ask, how do you pay close attention to driving if you’re distracted by a call?) So all this multitasking scenario succeeds in is making you less of a safe driver while also providing lousier service to your job task at hand. It’s a lose-lose situation!

Prioritize Downtime

Now that I’m back to working more like a normal person, there is nothing better than 5:00 on a Friday, when I log out of my work email, turn my work phone off, close my work laptop, and put all of them (screen down) in the office, not to be looked at for the next several days. I think it’s important that we have that break whenever/wherever we can take it.

That break is important for our mental health and it makes us better workers. It gives us a chance to recharge mentally and physically so we have more mental energy to face the challenges of the job when the next work week comes. I worry this appreciation for the benefits of downtime is something that’s gotten lost in recent years, in our always-on society.

Find Unique Places to Work

This one may be difficult for some people. Depending on the type of work you do you may need to be in front of a video monitor often. Or you may do highly technical work that requires you to be tied down to some sort of office environment. But for many of us, one of the joys of flexible work situations is that you can pick where you want to actually work. So don’t limit yourself to being locked in your home office, the basement, the second bedroom, or wherever you usually work from. If it’s a nice day and you have the internet access you need, work from the front porch or the back deck. Go sit at a local park, beach, or other green/blue spaces. If the Great Outdoors isn’t really your thing, go to a local coffee shop.

Obviously, make certain you are still ensuring all necessary confidentiality your job may require. Use screen protectors so others can’t read your screen, talk quietly if you’re on the phone or seek out private places to talk, or use headphones if you’re in a meeting or a training session (anyone sitting within earshot will appreciate this anyway!)

To Conclude:

This is somewhat of a complex subject as our jobs all vary so greatly in terms of the circumstances that surround them, what our supervisors may require, the security necessary to protect the information we work with, and the practicality of how our jobs function. I just want us all to “think outside the box” when it comes to flexible work options.

One of the best things about these work options is they allow us to get out of the office and better fit our work into the lives we live. So take advantage of this! Set boundaries for when and how you use your work devices. Recognize that while multitasking may make you FEEL more productive, in all likelihood it’s probably, actually hurting your productivity. This isn’t good for your company or the clients you serve.

Also, remember to prioritize your self-care. If you aren’t in a good place it will be almost impossible for you to put your best foot forward in terms of the work you do. Part of this self-care means making your work environment the most pleasurable it can be (while staying within the confines of what is required for your job, of course).

So, the next time you go to grab your work laptop or phone on your “off” hours ask yourself, “Is this really what’s best for me, my client, or my company?” If the answer is likely “no” go do something enjoyable instead!

Do you have any tips for keeping a healthy balance between work and home when your digital, work devices follow you home? Tell me about them in the comments!

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Mindful Thoughts on COVID

In this post, I look back COVID, from my perspective.

In the spring of 2020, the world ended (metaphorically speaking)…it still feels surreal…COVID…I feel like it became a punchline…of the worst joke EVER! 😝 So many people lost income and jobs to the Pandemic (I did), and so many lost their livelihoods. So many people had their lives abruptly changed and for some things may never fully return to normal…

We were lucky out here in South Dakota. We never had any real, state-wide mandates (masks or otherwise). Most people were good about wearing masks during the height of the Pandemic. (You still see people wearing them occasionally. I still wear them frequently for work but that’s because I work with people who are very high risk who also live and spend time in community settings.)

I am still awed at how a minuscule event in one corner of the world could shut the entire globe down…

The majority of the US population now has COVID antibodies (whether through vaccines, natural immunity, or both)

They say that as much as 95% of Americans now have COVID antibodies, whether that be from the vaccines, natural immunity, or both. If I NEVER hear the words “herd immunity” again, it will be too soon! 😤 *sigh*

Mr. Trekker and I have both 😝

Mr. Trekker and I stayed healthy for a long time! We both received our 3rd round of COVID shots in late 2021…and then we both got COVID (probably Omicron) in early January 2022.

I got it from him, we have no idea how he got it. 😝

We didn’t have it too bad, it mostly felt like a bad sinus infection/cold. Interestingly enough, between the two of us, we were more worried about me getting it because I have mild asthma. As it turned out, I hardly had a cough at all, while Mr. Trekker ended up with a mild cough for several weeks afterward…this virus is weird!

I also ended up with mild pinkeye as a side effect of my first round with COVID (apparently that isn’t too unusual with viruses.) Since then, my eyes have become INCREDIBLY sensitive. They’ve always been that way but now, if they get dry from dust or wind, or if I am near any food that could be considered even the teeniest bit spicey, my eyes will begin to burn and water horribly (like to the point where I can’t see out of them. 😝) This is especially true in my right eye which is also the one that had the worse pink eye symptoms.

Then in June 2022, we both got it again…

This time, I’m pretty sure I got it from a client (even though we were sitting outside and she wasn’t symptomatic at the time.)

I then proceeded to pass it on to Mr. Trekker and MommaTrekker. 😔

We were really worried about her as she’s over 70 and has several pre-existing conditions. She had just had a booster a few weeks before though and honestly faired better than either of us!

This time it didn’t last as long and the symptoms weren’t as severe. Unfortunately, we both ended up with a cough that lasted WEEKS and more lasting Long COVID symptoms from this round–mostly brain fog and memory issues.

Again…*sigh*

I HATE this virus! 😡

Mindfulness in the Midst of a Worldwide Pandemic

I try and keep a somewhat positive outlook on the whole experience by being mindful of how the pandemic ACTUALLY played out vs. how the experts feared it might end up.

There were more than one million deaths in the US from COVID-19, and millions more worldwide, and to be clear, EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of these was awful! However, when the whole mess started the experts were projecting more than two million deaths in the US alone, before the end of 2020, and that was with social distancing protocols being implemented.

I don’t mean to make light of the tragic losses that did occur, but this FAR lower statistic is a pretty amazing feat! It is a testament to the scientists, researchers, medical professionals, and technology we have available to us at this point in history! If this awful virus had come around 100 years ago or more, billions could have died! (Think the Spanish Flu.)

Valid Emotions During Crisis Situations:

We all experience and respond to crises differently but I think it’s important to acknowledge that whatever feelings you had regarding COVID were valid. We should be mindful of how we express them but don’t run from these emotions (be they positive or negative). Accept them and acknowledge they exist (because they will whether you fight them or not). We must allow ourselves to feel whatever it is we need to. Below are some emotions I experienced throughout COVID:

Anger About the Pandemic:

—Hoarding: Many people seemed to think only of themselves and didn’t save enough products for others (some who were seniors or the immune-compromised who really shouldn’t have been going out). If you aren’t the Duggars, or you aren’t buying toilet paper for multiple families, you don’t need to hoard! 😡

On the other hand, we were told not to hoard, but then the CDC and other emergency preparedness groups came out and said to have up to a month’s supply of food on hand…what were we supposed to do with those two bits of contradictory information? 🤷

Leave people alone!: I never understood many peoples’ desires to comment on the choices of others. I’ve said before on several occasions that I lean Libertarian so I’m pretty big on people being left alone to make their own choices. However, I do understand in crisis situations when at least local governments may need to implement certain restrictions in the interest of Public Health.

More so than that though, I don’t understand peoples’ need to criticize others for wearing a mask or being careful when the general public is no longer being forced to. You have no idea what a person’s situation is. Just because they wear a mask doesn’t necessarily mean they’re “living in fear” (and if they are, so what, how does that affect you?) They may be immunocompromised (or be caring/living with someone who is.)

There was a point, several years into the pandemic, where I was preparing for–and recovering from–MAJOR abdominal surgery that required a multi-day hospital stay. I wore masks for WEEKS in public around that time. It wasn’t that I was “scared” per se, but I did NOT want to get sick with ANYTHING! It could have led to my surgery being delayed, my getting horrifically ill, or serious complications after surgery due to violent coughing/sneezing/vomiting.

So, why not just leave people alone to do what they feel is best for them? (And you can do the same for yourself?)

—The Media: I often felt a sense of rage at the news media. I’ve distrusted them in the past but after COVID I’ve become completely jaded–regarding the virus and most other news-worthy issues. They seemed to mislead at every turn if it could cause controversy. (I probably shouldn’t be surprised anymore but I still am at points.)

I’d read a clickbait headline that makes one claim and then goes on to almost disprove itself if you read the actual text of the article, or watch the entirety of the video clip they referenced in the article. They weren’t openly lying, because there was a semblance of truth in what they said, but their claim was so far from the truth that it may as well have been a lie with the message they were proclaiming to the masses (and for the record, I don’t care which news source is your favorite, I’ve seen ALL of them do this.)

They seemed to take pleasure in reporting bad news and stirring people up. They didn’t take the time to fully research information, that would apparently have taken too long. 🙄 It seemed to be more important that they were “the first” to break a story. The really shameful thing was, that I don’t believe they cared. They just went happily along reporting bad news every chance they got because it may have helped a reporter’s career or a certain company’s reputation.

Depression and Anxiety over COVID:

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I already struggle with anxiety (which obviously, COVID caused for many of us.) One symptom of anxiety is catastrophizing. This means your mind automatically jumps to worrying about the worst-case scenario and that was SO EASY to do during COVID.

I believe I’m technically an optimist at heart. I try to focus on the positive (although I worry about the worst-case scenario, of course, especially with my anxiety). But it just felt like, during the Pandemic, that so many only wanted to focus on the worst thing that could happen and they wanted to scream that to the world. Why? Why do we seem to focus on things that make ourselves and others miserable?

We need to rely on Logic, not Emotion during these difficult situations! I believe we have to be calm and logical when dealing with times like these. I don’t mean to sound snarky, but why can’t people stay rational when things get difficult without immediately jumping to APOCOLYPSE?! It feels like they’re pouring salt into an already raw, gaping wound…

COVID may be with us for a while…

The COVID pandemic isn’t over yet, unfortunately. I’m starting to think it will NEVER be “fully” over, at least not for the next few decades. I hold out hope that we’ll be able to remain living relatively normal lives, but now I fear that regular vaccines (and perhaps even regular–hopefully mild–infections) are going to remain a part of “normal” life. 😕

At one time I was hopeful that we were on our way out of this mess. Now that I’ve done everything right (at least regarding getting my vaccines) and we STILL got COVID (TWICE!)–AND we’ve got Long-COVID symptoms I’m more skeptical…

I believe in science. I believe it’s very possible the reason neither of the Trekkers got all that sick from this potentially deadly disease was due to our vaccines. I also believe the reason none of our parents have gotten very ill from COVID is due to vaccines. And I am VERY thankful for these!

But when we got sick 1 MONTH after getting our boosters I just felt…DONE. I think, at that moment, I just gave up. It’s here, it isn’t going away, and we have to learn to live with it….THE END. 😪

I understand the vaccines probably worked as intended and those in our families who have had COVID while vaccinated came through relatively unscathed. But we still got it, and I’m assuming if another variant (maybe one not related to Omicron) develops, we will likely be at risk of at least mild disease from that. So, this is our “new normal”.

We will probably have at least annual vaccines with the threat of at least occasional, mild illness always looming…possibly for the rest of our lives…it sucks but I just feel like that’s what we have to adjust to and accept for the foreseeable future. *sigh*–again!

Searching for Hope and Encouragement in Crisis Situations

I have to end this post on a good note, right?

I can’t help it. Even with my learned helplessness after years of being beaten down by COVID, I still feel a glimmer of hope.

COVID was a unique time in our lives. Many of us have never experienced something like this before. As a (very OLD) Millenial, the only country-wide crisis I’ve really had to deal with was the September 11th terrorist attacks.

I grew up hearing stories about my grandparents’ generation dealing with World War II, the rationing of meat, the transitioning of factories to make equipment for the military, and the various drives people engaged in at home for the “war effort”. I always wondered what it would be like to be able to do something like that to help your country. Now I know…

Through all this, I’ve been reminded that there is a lot of good in the world, and times like these are when it really shows.

A lot of good things DID happen! Vaccines were produced in an unheard-of, record time. So many people bound together to help each other get through this crisis, from wearing masks and social distancing in public to those who volunteered their time to make masks for local schools and hospitals. Others ran errands for people who felt they couldn’t go out. Some small businesses transitioned to help their local communities (like distilleries that stopped producing alcohol and started producing hand sanitizer instead.)

I think a lot of the world’s goodness was shown throughout COVID. I know I’ve learned a lot, both about myself and also about the reality of country-wide/worldwide crises: how they proceed, how people react to them, the good and the bad.

So there are things to be hopeful about regarding COVID!

What did the COVID crisis feel like to you? What POSITIVE things did you see during this time of crisis? Share your experiences in the comments!

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Spring Forward: Daylight Saving Time

In this post, I discuss how my SAD symptoms decrease with the time change.

It’s that time of year again! We push our clocks forward one hour this weekend (in the US at least)! I know people hate the time change and I know many people have good reasons for feeling that way. (It has even been proven to mess up your sleep.) I actually love time change day (in the spring)! It is the day my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) dies ya’ll!

For those of us in the Northern Plains, the time change really does make the best use of our daylight hours that fluctuate wildly throughout the year. If we stayed on Standard Time all year, it would start getting light at 3:30 am in the summer (no joke). Whereas if we stayed on Daylight Time all year, it wouldn’t get light till after 8 am in the winter. I’m not ok with either of these options.😝 So, I will firmly remain #teamtimechange.

Winter passed quickly

I am always amazed at how quickly the dark winter actually flies by. It always goes more quickly than I think (worry) it will. I’ve been VERY fortunate that my SAD has been super mild for the past few years. I’ve hardly been noticing it at all! It may be a fortunate side effect of my taking high doses of Vitamin D3 for the last several years. It helps that we’ve had fairly mild winters in recent years, too.

Other Vitamin D3 options: Nature’s Bounty, Nature Made 2000 IU tablets, NOW softgels

SAD symptoms end with the time change

I am always amazed at how much better I feel once my SAD symptoms start to ebb. It really gives you an appreciation for how strongly they affect your life. You don’t always notice it while you’re experiencing them. You know that everyone seems to be keen to IRRITATE THE HELL OUT OF YOU! (must they swallow so loudly?! 😂) And you can’t help the tears that come when EVERYTHING YOU TRY TO DO FAILS MISERABLY!!! (Why am I the only one whose life is so difficult?! 🙄😉)

I hope it’s obvious that I’m being sarcastic with these statements. In all seriousness though, I find it amazing how my SAD symptoms cast a shadow on every other aspect of my life. Even though I personally experience it, it’s hard to believe it can cloud your judgment so much on whatever thing you’re dealing with at any given moment. Every problem seems 10x worse when SAD is already weighing you down. Any other stressor you feel is amplified.

As someone who struggles with anxiety throughout the year, the SAD worsens those symptoms, as well. I am a master champion at catastrophizing future events that I’m worried about on a good day. When I’m dealing with SAD, as well, that ability becomes a superpower. 🙄😝

Every fall I swear, I’m not going to let SAD affect me as much this year. I know what’s coming, I know how to deal with it, I know it WILL END, I just have to get through it…and then every spring I’m back to, “Wow! Was all that extra angst I was feeling JUST from my SAD?” Maybe someday I will learn. 😐

Related posts: Summer Solstice: The Longest Day; Therapy Lamp and Calm App Reviews; I HATE Seasonal Depression!; Enjoying the Winter Solstice; Increasing Daylight as Winter Wains

Take back your power from SAD

Our brains are powerful tools, and they can allow our imaginations to run away with themselves if we permit them. While its important to always be patient and understanding with ourselves, it’s also important to try to reign in the negative thoughts, especially when we can speak the name of the demon they come from (“SAD”). By doing so we can help to lessen its control over us. Fortunately, we CAN control that demon, and it’s time to take our power back!

Do you find the time change affects your mood? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Stay Mindful by Using a Smartphone Purposefully

In this post, I discuss ways to lead a more mindful lifestyle by using technology as a tool rather than as entertainment.

Mr. Trekker and I are pretty good about not being glued to our phones. We have a standing rule at our house that there are no phones at the dinner table (with the exception of emergencies/family situations or, sometimes, when making travel plans on the run).

We’ve actually had strangers comment to us (in a good way) how unusual it is to see two people sitting together at a restaurant just talking to each other, with neither of us being on our phones. They always seem so impressed. I hope, by this small act, I can inspire other people to use their smartphones purposefully, as well.

My Week Without a Smartphone

A while back, I lost the use of my phone for almost a week. 😮 I was reminded of what life was like before we all had computers at our fingertips at all times. 🙄

It was due to this weird situation where Verizon pushed an update through and that basically “broke” my cellular ability. So I could use apps when I was connected to a WiFi network, but that was it. I couldn’t make any phone calls AT ALL (which is ironic since wasn’t that the whole point of having phones to begin with?!) After troubleshooting several things I decided that my phone was shot.

Fortunately, I have a warranty so I was able to get a free replacement from Apple. It was the same, old model I already had, and it had a crappy camera that took pictures with pink backgrounds 🙄 but at least it worked. I didn’t want to spend the money on a whole new phone at the time (we had literally just bought one for Mr. Trekker a few weeks before) so this was a good enough replacement.

On a personal note, my local Verizon store was FAR more helpful in dealing with this issue than Apple was over the phone. (The nearest Apple store is almost 400 miles away, in Denver). I’ve had good luck with Apple customer service in the past, but the Verizon store won this round! Apple seemed somewhat confused as to what exactly was wrong with the phone. Even though they told me not to bother with the local store because “the carriers don’t deal with this issue” Verizon was able to understand my problem and diagnose it almost immediately. This potentially saved me $100’s in replacement costs!

Remember the days before Smartphones?

It was weird to be thrown back to a life without a smartphone. I appreciated the break from the constant temptation to check social media or email while doing mundane things like standing in line at the store.

I did feel very isolated though, and cut off from the world. I could contact people via Facebook Messenger if I had a WiFi signal, but I couldn’t text. We haven’t had a landline phone in over a decade so, even at home, I realized I had no way to make a call to 911 if it was needed (fortunately it wasn’t). It was humbling and frustrating.

Part of me would love to throw all this tech garbage away and just go back to an old-fashioned “dumb” phone. I used to love my old flip phones, where I could send a quick text message or write a simple note to myself. I could even take the occasional picture (if it was REALLY important because they were EXPENSIVE!)

I could *gasp!* call someone (or have them call me) if we needed to get in touch. I really miss those simple days, they feel so 2006-ish! (Yeah, I didn’t get a cell phone of any kind until after I graduated college in 2005, told ya I was old-school! 😉)

How to Use a Smartphone Mindfully

Smartphones do have their benefits. They’re pretty handy when I’m away from my computer and need to make an update to my blog or handle other work-related business. A portion of my livelihood is made via the internet so having access to my blog, social media, and email (let alone old-school phone calls) from almost anywhere means I can be far more productive with my freelance work (and it gives me far more freedom to be away from home–the office).

I read the book Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport, recently as research for another project I’m working on. It was a very interesting read! I’d recommend this for anyone who feels technology has too much control over their life.

In the book, he stresses using technology, such as phones and social media, as minimally as possible to pursue more fulfilling things in life. I don’t feel like I struggle as much as many of the people he discusses in the book, so I didn’t feel the need to implement all of his strategies. However, the book did help me to structure my free time better and prioritize things I really care about.

I pride myself on not being a technophile, but this book really brought home to me the importance of using technology as a tool rather than as a device for entertainment. (It made me think we should view it almost like a pen or a drill, that is needed solely to complete a task.)

As an example, rather than scrolling through my Twitter or Facebook feed, I strive to only check a few, individual people who I follow. This helps me stay up-to-date with family and friends who live far away. I also check a few, specific, news sites so that I remain in-the-know on current events.

There are also a few, individual groups that I am a part of that help me to achieve my blogging and writing goals (I rank these under Professional Development). That’s it. If I’m not using my phone or social media for those purposes, I try not to use it at all.

There are always other free-time options to pursue. I’ve got a stack of books I’m working my way through, I’m also still enjoying the Star Wars, adult coloring book Mr. Trekker got me for Christmas several years ago, and I’ve got other projects to keep me busy.

Our lives are hectic enough! I challenge you to look for ways to reduce your smartphone use. Maybe instead you could interact with some flesh-and-blood humans 😉; take a walk, read a book, or go throw a baseball with your kiddo (or a tennis ball for your pup!) Let’s try to be more mindful and purposeful when using our smartphones!

What do you think? Have you seen any benefit from being more mindful with the use of your phone? Let me know in the comments!

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Using Mindfulness to Overcome Road Rage

In this post, I discuss how we can use mindfulness to better deal with annoying things in life, like slow drivers.

“The gas is on the right grandma!”

“If you can’t drive, get off the road!”

We’ve all been there right? We all get irritated by slow drivers…or the person who pulls out in front of you and forces you to slam on your breaks…or that special model of car that apparently wasn’t built with a blinker…🙄

Unfortunately, we can’t avoid the slow or less-than-perfect drivers that we encounter in our daily lives. However, instead of letting our frustration take control in those situations, we can use mindfulness practices to help overcome that road rage.

The Importance of Being Mindful While Driving

There have been several occasions when I was irritated at being stuck behind a slow driver. Though I felt my Road Rage Meter soaring, I couldn’t pass them safely, so I waited. Inevitably, we soon came around a curve and a deer was standing in the middle of the road. Our slower speed allowed both myself and the driver in front of me, plenty of time and space to stop. But if I had raced around that corner…

On other occasions, we came over a hill and a cop was waiting on the other side. Because I was stuck behind the slow driver I knew I had nothing to fear, but if I had been happily zooming along at the speed I wanted to drive…my wallet would have been the one feeling the rage.

My point is, maybe that slow person has been placed in front of us for a reason. Call it a Guardian Angel, Fate, or the Universe stepping in, but maybe that obstacle in our path is actually there to help us.

Mindfulness Helps us Embrace the Current Moment and Decrease Road Rage

I try to see slow drivers as God (or the Universe, or Fate) telling me to slow down a little. I believe these situations present themselves to us as opportunities, chances to be more Present in the current situation that we find ourselves in.

I mentioned in a previous post how much I enjoy long drives on winding roads. When we find ourselves stuck behind a slow driver we can be mindful and appreciate the sunny day, or the scenic countryside, that we’re currently driving through. Or maybe this is our chance to connect more meaningfully with the person sitting next to us. Maybe it’s not a beautiful day at all, but rather the rain is drumming peacefully on the windshield; something I find to be incredibly relaxing.

I see (and hear) some people, in their cars, who appear to be very angry. They lash out at anyone who pulls out in front of them, or who doesn’t drive quickly enough. You can see them gesticulating wildly, or hear them yelling at another driver. (I’ve even seen people standing outside a stranger’s car, at a red light, screaming at them through the window. 😮)

This type of behavior is frightening to witness, but I also think it’s indicative of a larger problem in our society today. Many of us are overstressed and are strained to our limits. Some of us are hurting in one or more areas of our lives.

If we can show a little patience towards each other, to be understanding if someone pulls out in front of us (or wave an apology to them if we are at fault), if we can show just a little extra kindness towards each other, maybe it will make another person’s day. Maybe it will pull them out of the dark place they are in, just a little bit. Maybe it will give them a little hope that there is still some kindness in a world that can be difficult to navigate at times.

To Conclude

I get just as irritated with slow traffic (or the large family milling about, blocking my path at Walmart 😉) as the next person. But we never know when these obstacles are put in our lives for our benefit.

So the next time you find yourself stuck behind a slow–or bad–driver, instead of getting angry and yelling at them (or using gestures that you wouldn’t want your mother to see 😔), look at it as an opportunity…to spend a little more time enjoying the beauty of the world around you.

Besides, if we can put a little positive energy and light out into the world, I believe it will come back to us. Also, it’s a simple way to help make this big, blue ball we all live on a little better place, for everyone!

Do you have any suggestions for how to be more mindful while driving? Let me know if the comments!

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A Tranquil New Year

In this post, I review the goals I accomplished last year and the hopes I have for the coming new year!

Happy New Year! A fresh, clean page is available to all of us again…so NOBODY SCREW IT UP! 😂 (the 2020’s have been rough ya’ll! 😓)

I mean it! After four years of economic collapse, a worldwide pandemic resulting in repeated rounds of said disease for the Trekkers (and long-lasting COVID-brain as a result); wars in multiple parts of the world, being on the brink of nuclear war AND surviving another nasty, Presidential election in the US…a lot of us are very…TIRED.

…so, for the love of whatever you do or don’t pray to, PLEASE! 🙏 just let the New Year come in, offer it some tea, and welcome it, quietly. 🙏 🤞 😂

I always feel a little melancholy on New Year’s Eve. I don’t like endings or goodbyes. They feel drug out like we’re forcing something that should be left to rest in peace. I feel this way about most endings, whether that be of the calendar year, a birth year, etc. I find myself impatient to move on to the adventure that lies ahead.

For me, this makes New Year’s Eve somewhat bittersweet. I always have the urge to throw off the shadow of the old year as quickly as possible and embrace the brightness of the new one.

New Year’s Day, on the other hand, I love! I LOVE new beginnings, new journeys, that “new car smell” the new year brings! 😉 New years, new birthdays, they’re all ripe with potential for us to turn over a new leaf, to move away from bad habits, to improve ourselves and our relationships! They’re so exciting!

I’m not gonna lie, at this point, I’m literally anxious about what 2025 might bring. I’m usually really optimistic about the new year and all the fun things that I see on the horizon. Unfortunately, after the last few years, I feel like we’re going into 2025 with our hands over our eyes, sneaking a peak through our fingers, just waiting to see what horrors we may behold. 😮 😝

Some good in 2024!

2024 did bring a few good things for the Trekkers…

–I’m continuing my study of other religions! In the last few years, I’ve read the entire Christian Bible, the Gnostic gospels, the Apocrypha, the Book of Mormon and the Quran. I’ve also learned about the Jehovah’s Witness, the 7th Day Adventists, the Christian Scientists, the Wiccans and I read some lengthy portions of the Jewish Talmud. This past year I also read the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Wisdom of Solomon, and a book about the various Protestant denominations. Now I’m considering the Ascension of Isaiah.

Eventually, I may narrow my focus down to delving into the religious views of various American Indian tribes. So if anyone has any suggestions on reading material regarding these many groups, let me know in the comments!…

—One of us dealt with major surgery and lost all her inner girl parts (save one ovary) this year–“I wouldn’t say I miss them Bob” 😂😉. But I came out smiling on the other side with a gnarly scar to boot 💪!

—Once I was well-recovered the Trekkers gained a new tent-camper and continued with more travels in 2024! We enjoyed our new camper around the Black Hills and Bighorn Mountains some as well as our usual visits to Colorado and to see some family on the East Coast. You can read about some of those adventures at the links below:

—Visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes
—Colorado National Monument
—Go Fast Camper

I’m prayerfully hopeful 2025 is better for all of us!

This last year has been busy and stressful and I’ve been feeling kind of down in the dumps about life not looking exactly how I wish it would:

–With some nasty Google updates and the increasing influence of AI it has become even more difficult to get my blog where I want it…

—Work is going fine, just nothing exciting to report–which is fine. I like my job and it’s a good fit for me and where I currently am in life. My career future just isn’t offering any exciting opportunities at the moment…

—We haven’t gotten out to travel as much this year as we’d like. It took the first 3 – 4 months of the year for me to recover from surgery. Then we had a REALLY hot and humid summer and weren’t able to acquire our new tent camper until August–though we still enjoyed it a couple of times! But with work getting busy again in the fall we just weren’t able to get out and use it like we hoped to.

I tentatively (and QUIETLY) say this 🙏 but it seems like things may slightly be looking up for the new year…possibly…maybe? In 2025 one of my main goals is to really try to not let the small stuff get to me or to waste my mental energy worrying/stressing about the little things.

We are halfway through this “decade from hell” but I’m trying to really look for ways to focus on the positives (of which there are MANY)!

–We have decent jobs that provide us with benefits like good health insurance and enough money to pay for our needs and offer a little leftover at the end of the month for “fun”!

–We have relatively good health that allows us to engage in the activities we enjoy

–We enjoy strong family connections with relatively little drama

I also want to strive to be more mindful and to continue pursuing my goal of taking life as it comes. This is difficult for someone who struggles with anxiety and is more comfortable constantly worrying about and catastrophizing the future. But at some point we sap today of it’s joy if all we’re doing is worrying about tomorrow.

So, I continue to pray for a happy, healthy 2025 for everyone. Hopefully, we can find some healing of our divisions throughout our country and the world. I also hope we each have something that improves in our lives in the next year. I truly want 2025 to mean better things for all of us!

So Happy New Year folks! (and maybe get a helmet…just in case! 😮 😉)

What are your hopes for 2025? Tell me in the comments!

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Why the Time Change?

In this post, I discuss the Time Change; why it’s “a thing” and the effect it has on me!

Want to travel back in time? Thanks to “Fall Back”, you get to, and in a couple of months, you get to travel into the future when we “Spring Forward” again. 😝

The time change is so weird! Why do we do it? 😋

For the first 18 years of my life, I lived in a state that didn’t observe Daylight Saving Time. So, during my formative years, we never changed our clocks. In the winter, prime-time TV would start at 8 pm and the late news would come on at 11. During the summer, Prime Time would start at 7 pm with the late news coming on at 10. Other than that, we never noticed any differences at all (though we lived near the Michigan border and I knew that state did this weird, time change thing 😜).

I always reach a point in the year that while I’m not excited for the sun to go down before 5…I can’t WAIT for it to come up before 7 again! It isn’t fun getting up in the dark…walking Puppers in the dark (while still half asleep)…even eating breakfast before the sun peeks over the hills on the eastern side of town…😝 …I can’t imagine how hard it would be to wake up if we didn’t follow the time change and we lost another hour of daylight (at least) in the mornings before hitting the shortest day of the year in December!

By the time Christmas rolls around the sun will be coming up almost as late again (but not quite! Oddly enough, once the time changes the sun never rises quite as late as it does the last week before the Change. The difference is only about 5 minutes, but it’s still BETTER! 😉) Also, by Christmas, I’m excited about the holidays and there are lights and pretty decorations all over!

My first Time Change experience

My freshman year in college, I got to experience my first “Fall Back”, I was so excited! 😉 Do you know what’s really crazy? I went to college in the same state I grew up in! 😂

“Huh?!” you may say. So, it’s complicated. Back then, the very few counties in Indiana, that were near Chicago, did observe the Time Change. This was because many of the people who lived there actually worked in Chicago (or at least northeast Illinois).

My new college friends thought my reaction was a little strange. I found the idea that we got a whole extra hour added to our lives to be fascinating.

There was one particular guy there, that night, who found my weird reaction amusing…I guess it didn’t bother him too much though since he asked me to marry him a “short” eight years later! 😂

The History of Daylight Saving Time

Time Change has been “a thing” in the US since the early 1900s, at least in some areas. It became popular in the ’70s (before my time, for the record 😉) during the gas shortage/energy crisis because, in theory, it would help to reduce energy use.

This may be true in certain locations, but in western South Dakota, we have less than nine hours of daylight during the darkest points of the winter. Whether those hours fall 7 – 4 or 8 – 5 doesn’t really matter…you still have more than 14 hours of darkness to contend with. 😝

Various state governors have also implemented the Time Change to help keep school children safer, as falling back an hour allows more daylight around the time the kids are traveling to school.

Standard Time is actually helpful

I do think the Time Change is ultimately a good thing, at least for those of us living in the more extreme latitudes. If we stayed on Daylight Saving Time all year, the sun wouldn’t come up until AFTER 8 am during the darkest months…no thanks!

In contrast, if we stayed on Standard Time all year, the sun would (literally) be coming up around 3:30 in the morning in the summer–especially seeing as we have an east-facing bedroom, I’m gonna pass on this one, as well. 😋

So, while it may be a complete pain in the a$$, I think the time change does make the best use of the extensive variations in the amount of daylight we experience over the course of a year.

The effects of the time change

I’ve talked at length about my struggle with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and the time change usually triggers it fully. Funnily enough, I don’t remember EVER experiencing it growing up in Indiana. Not even when it seemed like we didn’t see the sun from October through March (unless temps were below zero 🥶)–for anyone who isn’t aware, the Great Lakes region is known for being rather cloudy, especially in the colder months.

Other Vitamin D3 options: Nature’s Bounty, Nature Made 2000 IU tablets, NOW softgels,

I don’t even remember noticing the dark so much in college, which was the first time I experienced true darkness before 5 pm. I’m not sure if it was because I was so busy with classes, homework, and college life, that I just didn’t have time to pay attention? Or if life was relatively easy, being that I was a college student without any major responsibilities 😇?

Another funny note: Indiana’s full state does now participate in Time Change (they started after I moved away), but they’re STILL weird. The vast majority of the state is in the Eastern time zone and changes with New York City, but those few counties near the Illinois border are still in the Central time zone and change with Chicago (for the same reasons I mentioned above).

November is a bad month for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

I struggle with SAD the most during the three weeks before Thanksgiving. The weather in the Black Hills is usually fairly decent, but Fall does tend to be one of our cloudier times of the year. That, and the lack of daylight, tends to exacerbate any SAD symptoms I’m currently feeling.

It’s INCREDIBLY frustrating when you’re already feeling lousy and Mother Nature just smiles at you and keeps kicking your emotional butt with Her cruddy weather…but there’s something oddly calming about it too. Like She does not give a SH*T about how we feel. She just does her thing, completely oblivious and ambivalent about our needs or comforts. It’s humbling, and I find the consistency of it somewhat comforting, strangely enough.

Fortunately we tend to have GORGEOUS sunsets this time of the year!

This time of year, the excitement and decorations of Halloween are over, but it’s too early for Christmas (despite what some might tell you. 🙄) I’m not sure which is the chicken, and which is the egg, but I also find my SAD symptoms compound (or are worsened) by any other stressors/worries I have going on. I think SAD heightens your sensitivity and lessens your tolerance overall, making you more susceptible to the negative effects of these other triggers.

Other therapy lamp choices: Happy Light Luxe; Happy Light full-size; Happy Light UV-free; Happy Light Alba; Happy Ligh Lumi; Happy Light Compact; Happy Light Touch

I LOVE Thanksgiving though, so once we get to that week it gets easier. Then the Christmas Season is in full swing, complete with all the lights, music, and holiday spirit, so I’m happier. Things are also a bit easier with my rambunctious, four-legged “office mate” to keep me company (she doesn’t seem depressed. 😉🐶)

So, for the next few weeks, I’ll be hanging out in front of my therapy lamp while popping the Vitamin D3. 😋 We just gotta buckle down and “embrace the darkness” for the next few months. Fear not though…it’s only about seven weeks till the Winter Solstice, and then the days will start getting longer again! 🌞

Are you #teamtimechange? Tell me your opinion in the comments!

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Enjoy the Holidays Mindfully

In this post, I discuss how detrimental I think it is that our society rushes us from one holiday to the next and how Mindfulness practices can help us keep our sanity, especially during the upcoming, Holiday Season.

Gird yourself for the Holidays folks, ready or not…they are coming! 😮

Here we go again…I’ve been noticing the Old Navy Christmas ads are already going strong and it’s not even Halloween…yet! 🙄 EVERY year this happens and EVERY year it makes me irritated. 😝

Straight, No Chaser has a great song that speaks to this very issue

One of my biggest pet peeves is the overt rush to the Holiday Season, which seems to start in September. 😋 Why the rush? It completely goes against all principles of Mindfulness and being Present, or living in the moment–especially as this year felt like we had summer to the middle of October! 😓

I will acknowledge, that the pretty lights do help to lighten the mood as our days shorten…but there are plenty of Halloween/Fall-related decorations we could be focusing on right now! 😤 –I do appreciate that our local neighborhoods have seen an explosion of Halloween and fall decorations this year!

Christmas…in Fall?!

It seems like a week or two before Halloween each year, the seasonal sections of stores are already alight with Christmas decor. Not one or two things, here or there, mind you. No, there are rows upon rows of Christmas lights, outdoor and indoor decorations, and fake Christmas trees already filling the shelves.

This isn’t that big of a deal. It happens every year, so I know I should be prepared for it and should just ignore it. At the very least, it is NOT important enough to be wasting my precious, mental energy on…yet every year it irks me more! I just get irritated that while I’m busy thinking about goblins and ghouls, Christmas decorations are shining at me from the shelves. 😝

The stores have Halloween candy out in August! Seriously, if you buy the candy then, it would be gross come the actual holiday. And let’s be honest, who could keep it in their house that long without eating it?

Maybe that’s the plan of the stores and candy companies, get it out early so we start enjoying it…so then we have to buy more by the time the actual holiday comes. 🤔 They’re making us fat while simultaneously slimming our wallets! 😡 They probably partner with the weight-loss companies…we’re on to the conspiracy now though! 😉 (Ok, time to take off the tin-foil hat. 😇 )

Have we always rushed the Holidays?

I wonder if this rush to the Holidays is really a new thing? Maybe it has always been this way? The over-commercialization of Christmas is even mentioned in The Charlie Brown Christmas movie from the 1960s…

Perhaps our rush to the next event we are anticipating is just a weakness of human nature? I wonder if people who participate in less, mainstream holidays experience this, as well? Are those who celebrate Diwali, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa allowed to enjoy these holidays in their proper season?

I think one reason this yearly phenomenon bothers me so much is that it makes me feel rushed. I feel like it adds an additional level of stress to the everyday pressure I already struggle with. It’s no wonder we have so much ADHD and anxiety in our world today, we’re constantly being rushed from one commercialized holiday to the next and never given the opportunity to rest and enjoy a given event in its moment.

Stop Rushing the Holidays!

You barely finish your hot dog and watch the 4th of July fireworks…and “Back to School” and pumpkins are being rammed down your throat…then, a month before Halloween even occurs, and THREE FULL MONTHS before the Christmas holiday, I’m supposed to start getting excited about Santa and his reindeer…?

It seems like we skip right over Thanksgiving, which is so sad. That is the holiday where no gifts are expected, we can just enjoy the moments spent with family and friends. It’s the one time where we are actually supposed to reflect on our many blessings and how thankful we are for them. It’s one of the most mindful holidays of them all!

…then with the Christmas holidays barely past, we’re already seeing chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day…then green clovers start appearing for St. Patrick’s Day…and shortly after, candied bunnies and chicks, for Easter, will be on the horizon…then the red, white and blue, patriotic decorations start flying for the summer festivities…and before we know it we’ve returned to Back-to-School and Halloween again!…and I swear we JUST took our Christmas tree down a few weeks ago! 😅

No wonder the years seem to fly by, we’re all living three months in the future at all times! It reminds me of a scene from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Upon learning that another holiday is just around the corner, Charlie Brown’s sister, Sally, states, “I haven’t even finished eating all of my Halloween candy yet!” I remember having this same thought as a child. (Regular readers will note I reference Charlie Brown rather frequently. The Trekkers like Charlie Brown ok, those stories taught me good lessons during my childhood, I’m not sorry! 😉)

I just don’t understand the constant need to always be reaching for the next thing. Do we ever take the time to just enjoy the current moment? Are we even able to anymore? On one hand, it seems silly to be concerned about this. But on the other, I think this is just another example of our over-stimulated, modern culture where we need to be constantly hyped up about something at all times.

Enjoy the Holidays Mindfully

Mindfulness principles can be really useful here. By focusing on and appreciating the individual moment, event, day (or at the very least, holiday) that we are CURRENTLY experiencing, we can help keep the stress and pressure of the Holiday Season at bay. We will feel less stress when we aren’t always preparing for something that won’t occur for several more months.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE everything about Christmas, I just REFUSE to participate in holidays until their appointed season. For the Trekkers, this means NO Fall decorations until at least the last half of September and I 100% refrain from engaging in anything related to Christmas until Thanksgiving has come and gone…then it’s Merry Freakin’ Christmas all day, every day! 🙃

To Conclude

I think this rush to the Holidays is detrimental to us. It increases the pressure of the already-stressful Holiday Season for many people. There are so many things that always occur at once: parties, religious and school activities, and family gatherings. All of these can cause us angst.

This time of year can also be very expensive for many people, with all the gifts, and the–sometimes lengthy–travel involved to see family and friends. On the other hand, not everyone has a loving family, so this time of year can be very lonely for them.

I think it’s pretty obvious that we would all benefit from putting a little less focus on the commercialized Holidays, and a little more on making our world a better place.

Do you find that the coming Holiday Season is over-hyped? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Just Groovin’: 5 tips for Using Mindfulness to Lower Anxiety

I find myself stressed, many days, over the simple tasks of daily life. Read on for how I’m striving to reduce this, and ways you can too!

I find myself feeling anxious over dealing with day-to-day items and stressors. I know this isn’t healthy for me mentally or physically. I want to be more Present and live in the current moment. So, I’ve set the goal for myself to use mindfulness practices to help lessen my anxiety levels.

I Feel Anxious Every Day

I think the anxiety stems partially from the less-than-regular, work-from-home lifestyle that I mentioned in a previous post. My days offer incredible flexibility, but the lack of routine can make life feel chaotic. I think the stress is also due, in part, to the general anxiety I deal with on a daily basis. I just have a tendency to worry about things in the future.

I think many people struggle with this. We worry about situations from daily life; we worry about interactions or disagreements that occur in our family, friend or work groups; we worry about the health of people we care about. Basically, we just worry a lot! Often times there’s nothing particularly awful occurring, these are just the situations we encounter over the course of life for any given day, week or month. These are normal things to concern ourselves with, but what can we do to ease the strain caused by that constant level of stress?

How I Lessen Anxiety with Mindfulness

I’m striving to implement a “Just Groovin'” mindset†. Read on for tips on how to use this to reduce your levels of anxiety and to live in the moment…

†You may remember this from a previous post, where I discussed us visiting a great BBQ spot in Marble, Colorado. It was called Slow Groovin’ BBQ, but their message was basically to just take time to enjoy the simple things in life. The Trekkers have made this into a personal, family motto of sorts, though we edited the name to “Just Groovin’!”

5 Tips to “Just Groove”: Using Mindfulness to Live in the Moment and Reduce Stress:

1) Stop Catastrophizing!

This is a therapeutic term that basically means, don’t imagine what horrible things can go wrong in a situation when it hasn’t even happened yet, or you don’t even have all the details regarding it yet.

This is something I struggle with regularly. I am striving to not worry about *insert-situation-here* until it actually happens. Usually, things play out better than I imagined they would anyway.

Often, I build up all this angst around an impending event and then it ends up proceeding far more smoothly (and often more quickly) than I had anticipated. Then I’m left with this surplus of negative energy that had been consuming me that, as it turns out, was completely unnecessary. Now I have no way to release that pent-up strain, so it is just added to my ongoing stress load.

Instead, I want to “just groove” through life, to just deal with things when and if they happen.

2) Don’t Stress Yourself Out Over Everyday Tasks:

I have this habit of rushing to get everything that’s on my To-Do list for that day, or week (or month) done as efficiently as possible. While it’s good to not procrastinate when necessary tasks need to be completed, it’s also good to implement productive, time-management practices.

We shouldn’t let ourselves get stressed out about these things. That causes unnecessary mental and physical tension. Again, I am usually able to complete all the to-do items that day (or at the very least that week or month) and it often takes less time than I thought it would. So then I am stressed out, and for what? Time and again, the list has been completed (usually more easily and more quickly than I anticipated), and all I’m left with is a further build-up of negative energy that I now struggle to relieve.

Are you seeing a pattern here? 😋 This compounding of stress just further contributes to the unnecessary tension we feel in our daily lives. 🤯 Ugh! This is why anxiety is so mentally exhausting!

3) Stop Stressing About the Future:

We need to remove the word “might” from our vocabulary. People with anxiety are always worried about what “might” happen in the future. “My boss MIGHT yell at me when he calls me into the office; those routine tests at the doctor MIGHT show something bad…” Let’s stop with the “might”!

There’s only so much we can control in life. Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Not everyone is big on the Bible, but I think this is some advice that can benefit all people, whether they are religious or not. We need to stop worrying about what “might” come tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. Because these things are only MIGHTS, they aren’t actually occurring yet, and we can’t deal with them until they happen. So, let’s be mindful, live in the present, and expend our precious, mental energy on what is actually occurring RIGHT NOW!

4) Don’t Miss Out on Today’s Joys by Worrying About Tomorrow:

Not all stress comes from negative events. We have a tendency to want to rush through life so that we can get to the good stuff, though that may mean we don’t fully experience or appreciate the simpler, everyday nuggets we encounter along the way.

A famous philosopher once described this problem in his young apprentice, “all his life he has looked away to the future…to the horizon…never his mind on where he was…what he was doing…” (If you’re imagining a small, elderly, goblin-looking creature, talking about Luke Skywalker…you’d be correct. Hey, Yoda was sort of like a philosopher! I’m a Star Wars nerd and I’m not sorry. 😉)

It’s good to enjoy the fun and exciting parts of life. But the humble joys of our daily existence are important too. Things like watching your children play on the playground, having a talk on the swing with an aging parent or pulling off the side of the road just to watch a particularly, stunning sunset. In the end, these nuggets are what we experience most often and they are what we’ll remember in the long run. These are the little things that make life worth living.

5) Just Groove!

My ongoing life goal that I’m continuously striving toward is to learn to just “go with the flow”. I will strive to not allow myself to be anxious about things unless I KNOW that there is something to be anxious about.

You may be thinking, “ever thought of trying some meds?” Anti-anxiety medication is always an option, of course (full disclosure, I do use it, occasionally, on days that feel particularly stressful). But I don’t want to have to rely on it for the rest of my–hopefully lengthy–lifetime. I don’t want to need it just to get me through the normal pressures of daily existence. It seems to me, being that most of us live in a time and place where the quality of life is about the best it’s ever been, throughout the entire course of human history, that I don’t have any excuse to build up so much stress over just getting through the day.

This is where the concept of “Just Groovin'” comes in. Basically, it means, take life as it comes. I am striving to embrace mindful minimalism, and only concern myself with problems as they present themselves (rather than wasting mental energy to worry about them ahead of time).

Want to join me on this quest? Tell me in the comments about your tips for using mindfulness to lessen daily stress, and to live in the present moment!

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IBS: an Invisible Illness

In this post, I discuss my ongoing struggle with a chronic condition called IBS.

It starts with a characteristic *grumble–grumble* in the tummy, like you might feel when you’re getting hungry…but not quite. It progresses to sharp pains and paralyzing cramps that can spread from your abdomen to your feet…then there’s the nausea, the cold sweats, the chills, and sometimes what feels like hours doubled over with stomach pains…and then…as quickly as it comes on, the attack is relieved…you may even feel hungry…

You just had an IBS attack!

I’ve mentioned several times that I struggle with this chronic condition, otherwise known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This is a unique problem. It isn’t considered a disease, per se, but more of a disorder. Basically, when people suffer with IBS, it means their bowels don’t work correctly, and it isn’t understood why. Doctors usually give you this diagnosis when they can’t find anything else wrong after other tests are completed.

Some people don’t consider IBS to be a “real” ailment at all. I’ve heard several claim it’s the “diagnosis of doctors who are too lazy to figure out what’s really wrong with you”. Symptoms and severity differ for each person (and what each individual suffers can vary over the course of time). IBS is complicated. 😛

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

IBS comes in three categories: “Predominantly C”, “Predominantly D”, or an unpredictable, varying mixture of the two. I won’t get into the dirty details, but since this syndrome focuses on the bowels, I’m sure you can figure out what the C and D stand for. 😝 I also won’t TMI you with which one I deal with, as it isn’t really relevant, and people who suffer with the disorder can switch between the types throughout their life…I did.

I think part of the reason I struggled so much with the restrictive, low-carb diet I tried several years ago is that my IBS already limits what I can eat, so the diet just exacerbated that even more. In addition, some “Paleo/Keto-friendly” foods aren’t well tolerated by my testy tummy (like dark chocolate, or certain types of super-fibrous veggies). To contrast, many “naughty” foods, such as bread, my body loves. 😝 (Fortunately, my stomach will tolerate whole-grain breads, so I can compromise with those). 😀

What IBS is NOT?

As I mentioned before, IBS isn’t considered to be a disease…exactly. It isn’t as acute as Celiac, Crohn’s or Inflammatory Bowl Disease, though the symptoms can be severe (I consider myself blessed that mine rarely are). They don’t actually know what, exactly it is. It isn’t an auto-immune issue, it isn’t gluten intolerance (I’ve mentioned before that my body loves whole-grain carbs, for the most part). It isn’t caused by an allergic reaction either. Some people with IBS can be gluten or lactose-intolerant, but those are separate issues–I am not. For the most part, these foods don’t bother me at all, though there are one or two options in these categories that I’ve learned to stay away from.

IBS Trigger Foods

This disorder makes food choices complicated. Symptoms, severity and food sensitivity differs from person to person, though some foods are considered “trigger foods” as they, generally, “trigger” negative responses. These include onions and celery, though I can eat these foods if they’re dried, or well-cooked (the process must change the makeup of the foods so they are easier to digest). I recently learned that both almond milk and apples are frequently considered to be “trigger foods”. Nobody tell that to my stomach, as I’ve been eating both for years with no problems! 😛 Did I mention symptoms vary?

One of my “triggers” is spices. Not spicy food, per se, but herbs. Because of this, I tend to eat and cook my food pretty blandly. A perk of this, I have noticed, is that it enables me to enjoy the actual flavor of the food I’m eating, rather than whatever spice/essence has been added to it.

Another example of how complicated IBS can be, I can drink milk and eat cheese without stomach problems (though it affects my sinuses). But if I eat or drink things with a lot of heavy cream in them, my stomach may protest. 😛 I also have to be careful with honey. I can eat it, but only in small amounts.

How to treat IBS

I have seen a reduction in my symptoms in recent years. Some of this is due to learning what my trigger foods are, and avoiding them. I believe a lot of it is also due to reducing stress. An example of this stress reduction reducing one of my food sensitivities is that since decreasing my stress level I can now drink orange juice. One glass used to do me in. Now, I happily enjoy it every morning! I have also started a daily regimen of probiotics, which has been shown to help reduce IBS symptoms.

I find treatments such as stress reduction and healthy bacteria to be so interesting because, clearly, this is not JUST a physiological ailment. If my symptoms were purely based on an allergic or immune response, I should react to the same foods all the time. Because my response to them can vary based on the presence of other stimuli, other factors must be at play.

More and more, effective medications are being found to treat this disorder. For now, I’ve chosen to not use them. I’ve stated before that I’ve become disillusioned with modern society’s over-reliance on “magic pills” to fix everything. I don’t shun modern medicine, but this is one arena where mindfulness and behavior changes can bring positive improvement, sometimes without the use of drugs at all–though the need for medication varies by person as well. (To be clear, I don’t consider a probiotic to be a “magic pill”. Namely, because it is righting the actual issue that experts believe is playing a part in causing Irritable Bowel Syndrome, to begin with, that of inaccurate bacteria growth within the gut.)

Gut health and IBS

The gut is known to be a common place we all hold stress. When I’m under pressure, I regularly notice stomach cramps as I unconsciously hold tension in my abdominal muscles. This can trigger an IBS attack. If my body is reacting to a food I’ve eaten, there isn’t much I can do. However, if my symptoms are due to tension (and I have learned to feel the difference) I have literally stopped an IBS episode using nothing but relaxation and deep-breathing techniques. How empowering is it when we can see real, positive changes in our health just by changing factors that we have control over?

A connection between IBS and anxiety?

There is a known correlation between IBS and anxiety, though it isn’t fully understood. (I hear my Research Methods prof in the back of my head right now saying, “correlation is not causation!”) While an exact link between IBS and anxiety has not been successfully proven, it is not unusual for people who suffer from IBS to also struggle with an anxiety disorder or vice versa.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I wrestle with both. Researchers don’t know why this occurs, but they have some ideas:

- - It may be that the body is lacking nutrients as IBS can cause the gut to not absorb them from food well. More and more, problems in the gut (and subsequent nutritional deficiencies) are being linked to numerous physical and mental health issues, even if they once appeared seemingly unrelated.
  - It could also be that the stress brought about by anxiety causes changes in the gut flora, mini-muscle contractions, or a more acidic gut environment, all of which can then lead to the IBS symptoms.

Invisible Illnesses are Real

IBS is different for every person who suffers from it. It’s complicated and it’s hard to explain. The bottom line, this condition is a very real part of the lives of millions of people around the world, and it can hinder life greatly. I hope, one day, they find a cure for this life-altering and chronic condition, but until they do, I hope to continue employing the methods mentioned above to decrease the severity and frequency of my symptoms.

Do you struggle with an invisible illness like IBS? Tell me about it in the comments!

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